I really like Bagels by US in Arlington on Mass. Ave. They get partially baked bagels from H&H in NYC and finish the baking process here -- fresh every day. Good cream cheese too. I'm partial to the low fat veggie. There's a link below.

Also, if you hit CTRL F and type in "bagels" there are tons of threads on the board.

I have to dissent on Katz's bagels. I know they get a lot of praise on the board, but I've tried them several times and I've always found them pretty mediocre. The crumb *is* dense, but it's also way too dry. The crust is okay, but it doesn't have that quality of being shrink-wrapped around the crumb that really good bagels have. And I found them pretty low on taste too -- none of the wheaty, yeasty aromas and flavors that mark a great bagel. The little shop is cute, but the product is weak, in my opinion.

On a more positive note, the best bagels I've found around here are at Rosenfeld's in Newton Centre. Not absolutely ideal, but very good -- much better, in my opinion, than Zeppy's, Kupel's, or the chains. Definitely worth a trip.

Wow, potato bagels, *sunflower seed* bagels -- these are HIGHLY non-canonical bagels! ;) But as long as they get the basics right, I suppose non-traditional variations are the spice of life.

I'm curious about this potato bagel -- is it like a bagel version of potato bread, or do they somehow have potato slices adorning the bagel? Actually, the latter sounds nasty, so I'm really hoping it's the former. Is it softer than a normal bagel?

It tastes like a pepper potato knishes baked into a bagel, that's the best I can describe it...It's *slightly* softer than their standard bagel, maybe a little more moistness in the dough, flecked with black pepper...The outside is sprinkled with what looks like instant potato flakes...Sigh, yes, it's heretical, but it's SOOOOO good!

The sunflower one has seeds on the outside, and maybe some chopped into the dough...It somehow brings out the taste of the malt they use...Yes yes, these are non-traditional, but they really get the traditional right, including the salt, my bellwether bagel...

I don't go in for many of those "non-canonical" bagel types (cinnamon-raisin...blech), but I have to agree with galleygirl - that sunflower seed bagel is a keeper. It's got a lovely yellow-orange hue, and just the *faintest* hint of sweetness (does that come from the seeds themselves, I wonder?). Of course, all the staples (sesame, egg poppy, etc.) are top-notch.

After EIGHT years of searching, I found real, authentic bagels in a few places in town.

First, "Cafe Bagel". They are the real deal...almost better than the bagel shop I go to when I visit my parents back home. They are located in Needham Highlands, Dedham Center and Framingham Center. All their bagels are great, but their whole wheat ones are awesome.

Bagels by Us in Arlington buys their bagels from H&H back home. They truck them in unbaked and just finish them off in the store.

Lastly, buy the frozen "Ray's NY Bagels" at the supermarket and just nuke them for 30 seconds. Perfect!! They only come in a few flavors right now.

Jersey girl, here. I grew up on bagels and searched Boston to find the best when I moved here ten years ago. By far, the best, most authentic bagels are at Cafe Bagel. There are three locations I know of: Needham Heights (Highland Ave), Dedham Center and Framingham Center.

Aside from the place in Arlington that gets H&H bagels, nothing but Cafe Bagel comes close to the real thing.

I'm so glad someone else here agrees with what I've said on several previous posts. I've tried them all in Boston, (and I just spent the weekend in NYC trying bagels--I prefer Ess-a-bagel over H&H), but I think Cafe Fresh (I think that's the right name) are the best around.

I was completely underwhelmed by them. Flabby things. I also don't think H&H (at the mother ship) is all that great, either. Then again, NY-area bagels have declined precipitously in quality in the past decade, so the comparison is shifting.

Rosenfelds are the best around here, but for the chains, traditional Brueggers (NOT those sandwich abominations) flavors are actually quite close to a reasonable facscimile (especially the pumpernickle): dense, crusty, raised slowly (hence dense) with malt rather than sugar, and not too huge (they could be smaller, if I were making them). I do miss the salt bagel.